Patrick Ewing scored 26 points and Chris Mills and John Starks
came off the bench to blow open the game in the second quarter
as the New York Knicks posted their 20th straight victory over
the Boston Celtics with a 102-70 annihilation.

Mills, acquired by the Knicks from the Celtics in a preseason
trade, scored 17 and Starks added 14 for New York (2-1), which
has not lost to Boston since January 10th, 1993.

"I didn't even think about it (the streak) when I was out on the
court," Ewing said. "But I remember the days when they had the
dominance over us. It's nice that the tide is turned."

The game marked the return to Madison Square Garden as a pro
coach for Rick Pitino, who guided the Knicks to the Atlantic
Division title in the 1988-89 season before leaving for the
University of Kentucky. He returned to the NBA with Boston this
season.

Travis Knight had 13 points for the Celtics (1-2), who have
suffered consecutive double-digit losses since their opening
night victory over defending champion Chicago.

The Celtics tied it for the final time, 31-31, on Antoine
Walker's basket with 8:50 left in the second quarter. But New
York answered with an 11-0 burst behind six points from Mills
and five from Starks, grabbing a 42-31 on Mills' layup with five
minutes remaining in the half.

Mills and Starks each had 10 points in the period as the Knicks
outscored the Celtics by 16 points to open a 56-39 halftime
lead.

"Coach (Jeff Van Gundy) talked about the second unit coming in
and having some energy," Mills said. "And making sure not to
slack from the start. We've got to produce and make sure we're
not dropping down a level. We came out and did that tonight."

The Celtics got as close as 65-49 on Knight's 16-foot jumper
with 7:53 left in the third quarter. The Knicks continued to
pour it on, building a 26-point lead on Allan Houston's free
throw with 6.9 seconds to go in the period.

New York held Boston to just 11 points in the fourth quarter,
when the lead got as large as 34 points.

"The Knicks played great," Pitino said. "They were very
cohesive on defense. They were very cohesive on offense. I
think that we were overmatched from a team that is very
experienced at both ends of the floor. They played a wonderful
basketball game. We certainly did not."

Ewing, who also grabbed 11 rebounds, passed Hal Greer for 18th
place on the NBA all-time scoring list with 21,613 points.

Houston finished with 12 points for the Knicks, who shot 48.5
percent (33-of-68) from the field. Mills grabbed 10 rebounds,
helping New York to a 54-29 domination on the boards.

Bruce Bowen had 11 points for the Celtics, who shot 35 percent
(27-of-77).